Internal spring heel-seat.



H. A. MATEAR.

INTERNAL SPRING HEEL SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. H, 19!].

Patented July 16, 1918.

WWW fr. 6.

FFTQE I'IUON ARTHUR MATEAR, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

INTERNAL SPRING HEEL-SEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 1c, 1918.

Application filed October 11, 1917. Serial No. 195,937.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HUON ARTHUR VLA- TEAR, asubject of the King of England, residing at Liverpool, in England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal SpringHeeLSeats, of which the following is a specification. This inventionrelates to internal spring heel-seats for use in boots or shoes, of thekind which comprises one or more resilient compression members betweenthe wearers heel and an inner part of the boot or shoe.

Many such devices have been proposed but difficulty has been found inproviding a construction which shall permit rapidity of adjustment ofthe strength of the springy action to the weight or habit of the wearer.Other dihiculties have arisen in connection with the tendency forchafing to be set up between the wearers foot and the boot, particularlythe counter of the boot-and the part immediately above it. p

The present invention provides a spring heel-seat of the type abovedefined, wherein the compression member or members is or are retainedbetween a base and an upper.

plate which are connected together by resilient members in tension. Thecompression members are preferably three in number arranged one at therear of the heel and the other two forward of the said rear member andequi-distant from it.

Preferably each compression member is in theform of a coil spring andthe said base and upper plate areprovided with opposing projectionswhich enter the opposite open ends of the said spring.

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form ofspring-unit but with one of the compression members removed;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the base of the said unit;

Fig. 3 is an elevation-to a larger scale than that of Fig. 2 of adetail; and

Fig, 4 is a perspective vview of the heelseat intended to-be used inconjunction with the spring-unit of Fig. 1.

The spring-unit illustrated'in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a base plate A,whose shape is approximately triangular, but is seen more clearly inFig; 2. An upper plate B-is provided and nponeachof the said two platesare three stud-like protuberances C'which may be provided in anyconvenient way, but which, in the example illustrated, are dishedwashers of aluminium riveted to the plate. One of the said protuberancesis situated to the rear of the heel and the other two forward of it andequidistant from it.

The upper plate B is secured to the lower plate by means of two coilsprings D in ten sion and the ends of the two springs D are secured totheir respective positions on the plates by means of plugs E, one ofwhich is shown in Fig. 3. The plug is in the form of a short cylindricalpiece of metal preferably brass formed at the gripping end with aportion of a screw-thread E such that the space between its threads issubstantially equal to the diameter of the wire of which the springs Dare formed. The stud is drilled and tapped to receive a screw E? bywhich the end carrying the thread E is drawn toward the plate whichcarries it. I The other end of the plug is inserted in the open end ofthe spring D and the end portion of the Wire of the spring is introducedbetween the turns of the thread E so that the extreme end of the wirelies between the upper end of the thread and the plate towhich the plugis secured. This end of the wire is thus securely gripped and the plugsupports the spring so that its tendency to break at the gripping pointis reduced. This mode of attachment, further, greatly facilitates replacement of these springs. The top of the plug is squared as at E andthe hole in the plate is squared to receive it. This prevents theattachment working loose.

Three coil springs F, of which two only are shown in Fig. 1, areprovided to carry the weight of the wearer.

Upon the spring-unit illustrated in Figs. 13 is mounted a heel-seat,seen in Fig. 4:, and formed of a metal plate G having an upwardlyextending shield G for the heel of the wearer, which shield ispreferably made of leather and carefully shaped to conform to a personsheel. The forward end of the plate G carries a leather or other flexibletab H to extend under the instep and tend to retain the heel-seat inposition while leaving it freedom of movement under the action of thesprings F.

Conveniently a lining, such as is indicated in chain-line at J, isprovided to be permanently secured by itslower edge to the shield G andarranged to be detachab y fi c l d n" stamped in the plate B.

any convenient way, such as by hooks and eyes, or by snap-fasteners, asindicated at J to the inside of the boot.

The heel of a boot intended to receive the spring heel-seat is recessedto receive the plate, A, the recess being made of sufficient depth toleave only a portion of the spring unit of Fig. 1 projecting above thelevel of the heel-seat proper of the boot. The amount of this projectionis adjusted to the general convenience and may be of the order of to ian inch. In order to vary this amount readily, leather pads areprovided, of the shape of the plate A, for insertion in the hole in theheel beneath the plate A, as required. The plate A is perforated as at Ato receive a fixing-screw and the upper plate B and the seat G aresimilarly perforated at B and G respectively to allow a screw-driver tobe inserted and used for a screw in the hole A When the spring-unit ofFig. 1 has been secured in the recess in the heel, the seat G is placedupon it and, if the lining J is to be employed, this is stitched to theshield G and attached to the inside of the upper of the boot by thefastenings at J Should it be desired to use a shock-absorber in severaldifferent pairs of boots, each pair may be provided with itsspring-units and the seat G and parts carried by it removed from boot toboot as occasion requires. Alternatively, of course, each pair may beprovided with its own seat G and the parts carried by it.

' If desired the seat G may itself constitute the upper plate of thedevice so that the plate B will then be dispensed with and the partsattached to or carried by the plate B in Fig. 1 be then attached to orcarried on the underside of the seat G.

The projections C may be formed as bosses If the plate B is upturned atthe rear sufficiently to need it, a tapered packing washer is placedaround the rear boss C to give the spring a flat seating.

An important featureof the construction provided by this invention isthe facility with which the strength of the spring action may bemodified. To do this in the case of the spring-unit of Figs. l-3 allthat is necessary is to have a number of springs provided of uniformlength and diameter but of different strengths. Thus three strengths ofspring may be provided and considered as standards and are referred toas weak, strong and medium. For a heavy person or one requiringstiffness in the spring action, three strong springs will be necessary,but if these be found to be too stiff the plates A and B may readily bewithdrawn slightly apart, as permitted by the tension springs D, and oneor more of the strong springs F inserted may be taken out and replacedby weak or medium springs as may be found convenient. So with a brokenspring: ready replacement of a spring for any reason is provided by thearrangement of the tension members D and the projections C which engagethe ends of the springs I If replacement springs F are not immediatelyobtainable, they, or the Whole unit of Fig. 1, may be omitted for thetime being, when the seat G will simply, as a false heel-seat, cover thehole in the heel/ What I claim as my invention and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base, anupper plate, resilient means in tension connected both to the upperplate and to the base to draw these parts toward one another and a Vresilient compression 'member between the base and upper plate.

2.'In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base, an upper plate,resilient means in tension connected both to the upper plate and to thebase to draw these parts toward one another and a plurality of resilientcom pression members between the base and upper plate.

3. In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base, an upper plate,resilient means in tension connected both to the upper plate and to thebase to draw these parts toward one another, and three resilientcompression members between the baseand upper plate arranged one at therear of the heel and the other two forward of the said rearwardly placedone and equidistant from it.

4:. In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base provided with anupwardly directed protuberance, an upper plate provided with adownwardly directed protuberance opposed to that upon the base,resilient means in tension connected both to the upper plate and to thebase to draw these parts toward one another and a compression coilspring having open ends whereof one encircles the said protuberance onthe base and the other encircles the said protuberance on the upperplate in such a manner as to be readily detachable from the said:protuberances.

5. In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base, an upper plate thatis distinct from the plate upon which the wearers heel rests, resilientmeans in tension connected both to the upper plate and to the base todraw these parts toward one another, and a 7. In a spring heel-seat thecombination of a base, an upper plate that is distinct from the plateupon which the wearers heel rests and is provided with a loose false topfitted with an upwardly extending shield for the rear of the Wearersheel, resilient means in tension connected both to the upper plate andto the base to draw these parts toward one another, and a resilientcompression member between the base and upper plate.

8. In a spring heel-seat the combination of a base an upper plate thatis distinct from the plate upon which the wearers heel rests and isprovided with a loose false top fitted with an upwardly extending shieldfor the rear of the wearers heel terminating upwardly in a flexiblelining with means to secure it detachably to the upper of the boot,resilient means in tension connected both to the upper plate and to thebase to draw these parts toward one another, and a resilient compressionmember between the base and upper plate.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HUON ARTHUR MATEAR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

